Tuesday, 29 December 2015

Before I start I'm going to put it out there that I feel this one was a bit of a nail fail. It just didn't come together quite as I'd hoped, sometimes what it looks like in your head just doesn't transition well onto your nails. I wanted to share anyway as the polish is pretty and the design would be ok with better execution.

Sunday, 27 December 2015

I don't know about where you live, but it certainly doesn't feel like winter has arrived in London yet. Every day is just grey and drizzly (more than usual) and temperatures are in the mid-teens. I love cold weather around Christmas time, it just feels right. Hot drinks to warm up your hands after a walk on a crisp morning when the grass is still all frosty. Sodden and muddy with frizzball hair doesn't quite hold the same magic! If I can't have frost and snowflakes outside I'll just have to make do with my nails instead.

I have an old silver polish, Ciate - Fit For A Queen, which seems to come out once a year around this time. It's my favourite silver by far. Great coverage and super sparkly - perfect! Today I've teamed it with Mavala - Blue Mint* which has recently become my favourite pastel blue. It's such a lovely shade and has the very slightest hint of glean to it which makes it stand out. Perfect for a cool frosty mani!

I added the snowflakes using a white polish and very thin striping brush. I'm pretty useless at snowflakes but these didn't turn out too bad. I definitely get straighter lines when I use a striping brush rather than attempting them freehand with a nail art pen. I can also still use my hand the next day too! I added a couple of dots to the base of each of the silver nails to try to link the design a little. I wish I hadn't, you can barely see them and they look accidental more than anything else!

At least when I go out this winter without needing a coat I can pretend it's a bit cooler with nails like these! People may think I'm a little nuts but I'm good with that.

Come on January, we're counting on you for some cold. My jumpers are feeling neglected.

Thursday, 24 December 2015

It must be Christmas again as I seem to have no time. I think I have been at home for all of about an hour a day. Everything has gone a bit AWOL; the laundry hasn't been done, the dishes are piling up, I have bought all of one present and I have let poor Jo carry the blog along again (sorry Jo!). Luckily the boyf got a tree but there's nothing to go under it, and just one string of lights around it. Chaos. Thankfully I don't have to go anywhere on Christmas Day and will be alone until the boyf gets in from work so I can gets to tidying and drinking Bucks Fizz.

Wednesday, 23 December 2015

We recently ran a giveaway on Instagram as we had two spare sets of Barry M Midnight Gellys and wanted to share the love. In order to enter the giveaway we asked our followers to share some Christmas nail art inspiration with us. We got some great entries including loads of nails and Christmassy images. We picked two winners and this design is inspired by @erinstagram0's gorgeous entry - check out her photo on our Instagram page.

Saturday, 19 December 2015

There are a few more photos than normal for you today, not because I'm in love with this design, but because I was having way too much fun taking shots in front of the Christmas tree!! This simple holly mani was inspired by Emma but unfortunately I think I went too simple. I was going to add some more to it and decided against it. In hindsight I should have as they look a bit dull! Anyway, here's an idea for you if you want to give a little nod to the festive season but not go all out 'Christmas threw up on my hands'...

Thursday, 17 December 2015

How amazing are the baubles below? We love a good Crimbo decoration at the best of times, but ones with nail varnish in them are just something else! These beauties are from Mavala who are absolutely smashing the stocking fillers this year.

Wednesday, 16 December 2015

Jo and I love a good leopard print mani. We tend to create more in summer for some reason but we couldn't let the winter come and go without a new variation. For some reason I am a little obsessed by embellishments at the moment so decided to go for a classic pale blue look with some silver sparkles for the party season.

Tuesday, 15 December 2015

I've been busy working on some festive designs for you but we like to make sure we mix things up a bit in December too. Not everyone wants to adorn their nails with Christmas themed designs throughout the entire month (we do!) Today's design is another quick stencil mani using my chevron vinyls from Nail Mail UK.

Saturday, 12 December 2015

It's been a while since I got my nail stencils out, well probably only a couple of weeks but it feels like a long time! I love stencils but I do find that once I've used a style I want to mix it up a bit, otherwise I end up with lots of the same mani just in different colours.

Friday, 11 December 2015

You may have seen a little while ago a post on our Instagram page of some Topshop unicorn slippers. I fell in love with them and decided to create a nail design around them. I can't find the slippers on the Topshop website anymore so I'm sorry if this look makes you want them but unicorn stuff is still everywhere so you might be able to find some similar ones.

Thursday, 10 December 2015

The tree went up at our house yesterday so it's officially Christmas and I'm majorly excited. I'm off work at the moment so I've really been able to get in the festive spirit. Usually I'm stuck in the office until Christmas eve so it's hard to get into the swing of things. I'm so in the spirit that I actually decorated two Christmas trees yesterday - mine and my parents! My parents' looks like a three year old decorated it, but thankfully they decided this year to finally get new fairy lights (the previous ones are considerably older than me!) Ours is the opposite, all colour coded and 'sophisticated' but someone (me) might have gone a bit overboard so we've got lots of tree and not enough baubles... oops!

Wednesday, 9 December 2015

I'm not gonna lie guys these nails may look good but they are a frickin' nightmare to create. I've seen the sweater nail art fad grow and grow over social media and really wanted to give it a go but I foolishly decided to use normal polish, not gel. Big mistake. Huge. It took bloody ages! While the results were kind of worth it had I wanted to keep them on this would've taken about five hours, if not more, to dry completely and let me get on with my life.

Monday, 7 December 2015

Who says we can't have neon brights in winter? I love them mixed with blues and greys to jazz up a wintery mix and match. Today's look is a Models Own geometric mix up with gold studs for a bit of glitz.

Saturday, 5 December 2015

I don't know about you guys but I am so busy at the moment. Working in retail really takes its toll at this time of year. Christmas shoppers can be crazy! I am still managing to get into the Christmas spirit a bit though and am excited about all Christmas nail designs that are popping up. I just wish I had more time to concentrate on doing them. Lucky Jo has got some time off of work at the moment but I know her days are filling up pretty quickly.

Friday, 4 December 2015

It's officially Christmas party season. Mine is next week but my Facebook feed is already full of people having well deserved celebrations with their colleagues. The Christmas party is the perfect excuse to get your glad rags on and finish off the outfit with some snazzy nails. Today we've got a really easy mani that's perfect for this time of year and anyone can do it!

Wednesday, 2 December 2015

I've succumbed to the full festive mani, I couldn't help it, I saw a super cute snowflake design on Instagram and couldn't help myself! This one was inspired by the awesome @polishedtwins, check them out if you haven't already. So many stunning designs!

Monday, 30 November 2015

If you're looking for a cracking stocking filler for a nail polish lover in your life then Mavala have got you covered. They've released a couple of super cute Christmas gift sets and we've got one of them to show you today, and another one coming soon! Today it's Mavala's Cracking Duo set with Velvet* and Rose Shell*.

Saturday, 28 November 2015

One thing I love about December is that it's more acceptable to wear bejeweled nails. Not that this stops us for the rest of the year but it's a bit more socially acceptable for party season. I adore some of the crazy nails I see on Instagram where they're about two inches long dripping in crystals but that's not a look that I could pull off. I tend to stick to one or two crystal accent nails. For today's look I went for a little embellishment on my ring nail and I love how it turned out.

Thursday, 26 November 2015

You may have seen my lipstick design for Tesco last week in which case you should recognise this mani. Before putting on the lipsticks I had this cute dotticure which I just had to snap. Don't tell anyone but I actually preferred this to the final design. It's the sort of thing that I would wear at this time of year as the colours are quite muted but very pretty and the dots are so easy that you can do them in a matter of minutes.

Wednesday, 25 November 2015

As it's still November I'm calling this a winter mani, rather than anything too festive. Emma and I have a bit of an unwritten rule about getting into the holiday mood too early, if we started in November we'd definitely run out of designs before the big day! Anyway, these nails were inspired by my super cosy winter robin socks from Hobbs - a lovely gift from my Mother-in-law-to-be.

Tuesday, 24 November 2015

For the past couple of weeks I have been toying with the idea of getting myself a Burberry scarf. I even went in to touch them the other day which we all know was a bad idea! I really want a deep red one with my initials monogrammed. They are beautiful but so expensive. So for now I will settle with having Burberry nails.

Monday, 23 November 2015

It's #manicuremonday again which means another design for the lovely folk over at Beauty at Tesco! This week we've created a simple party mani which is super easy to recreate. Any deep berry shade teamed with gold glitter is going to look simply stunning! We used a little trick to add extra depth to this design by sponging some gold polish onto the tips before adding the glitter. This just helps to get a smoother gradient and stops you having to add multiple layers of glitter polish which can end up getting all thick and gloopy!

Check out Beauty at Tesco's social media pages for more images and make sure to follow them on Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter, or visit their blog here.

Saturday, 21 November 2015

I mentioned last week that we recently received two new at home gel kits to test out and I've been busy reviewing them both for you. This week we have Evixi Gel, described on their website as 'long lasting, no chips, instant drying gel nail polish'. Firstly I must apologise to the lovely people at Evixi for giving them the wrong address, I'm very glad that the postman managed to get it to the right place in the end!

Thursday, 19 November 2015

I think OPI are trying to kill me with excitement. When I heard that they were doing a Hello Kitty collaboration I screamed a little bit. When it dropped on my doormat I was beside myself! Look how cute the bottles are! Hello Kitty is my spirit animal! I really don't understand the fascination with the little icon but I know that I love her.

Wednesday, 18 November 2015

So we're a little late with our swatches of this collection but they're beautiful so we're going to share them anyway! Barry M launched four new autumn winter Sunset shades to join their original eight summer polishes. The new additions include a very pale pink, dusty mushroom, dark purple and dark red.

Monday, 16 November 2015

We've teamed up with the lovely folk at Beauty At Tesco again for today's look. The theme this week was lipstick print and I really wanted to try a cutesy style. It kind of worked but my black nail art pen gave me a headache again for being too thick. I need to find a finer one - any suggestions? Originally I was going for a 80s look but it didn't quite turn out like that! I still kind of like it though.

I used a heap of Barry Ms for this including: Do You Pink I'm Sexy?*, Plum On Baby*, and Sprint Finish*.Watch this space for a mani using these colours again as I took some snaps before the lipsticks went on.

Beauty at Tesco will be sharing more photos of this design today so keep an eye out! Make sure to follow them on Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter, or visit their blog here.

Saturday, 14 November 2015

Friday, 13 November 2015

This week something very exciting happened. Not one but TWO sets of gel nail systems arrived at Dahlia Nails HQ, the postman is on our good list forever! The first to arrive was Red Carpet Manicure which claims to be 'the UK's number 1 DIY home LED gel manicure system'. Considering we haven't tried any other systems yet we can't really compare, but were very keen to test it out against previous salon experiences!

Thursday, 12 November 2015

Barry M recently released four new Speedy polishes and needless to say - we love them! We're being really slow at getting them swatched for you, so sorry. In the meantime I have used two today in nail art, which is what we're all about anyway!

Wednesday, 11 November 2015

I always get stupidly excited when a new OPI collection drops on my doormat. The Starlight Collection* was the latest to be delivered. We were sent 7 out of the 10 shades to showcase. I've actually seen a review where 18 shades are mentioned but the blurb sent to me by OPI only mentioned 10. Inspired by the night sky the range varies in tone and finish which makes it quite interesting, even for someone who's not a huge glitter fan (you may remember this from the last hundred times I've mentioned it!).

Monday, 9 November 2015

Today's mani is inspired by the beautiful Monoi flower. We'd never heard of this flower until Beauty at Tesco asked us to create a Monoi mani!! As it's a tropical specimen we went all out with the design. It doesn't exactly match the season but who says we can't go tropical in November?!

Sunday, 8 November 2015

Jo and I always make an effort to create a design for Remembrance Day. We've explained our reasons in previous posts so I won't go into that again. I hope you take some time to have a think today and remember those who have sacrificed their lives doing what they think is right to benefit the rest of us.

Saturday, 7 November 2015

I have got no idea how to define this mani. It's not really aztec but it's got that kind of feel to it. It was more of just a doodle and hope for the best type design! I usually reserve designs like this for summer and pair them with a super bright polish for a festival feel. Today it dawned on me that if I used a darker shade and added a touch of gold I could bring the style with me into winter yay!

Friday, 6 November 2015

I really enjoy the changing of the seasons (especially into autumn, my favourite) as it means I get to switch up my nail designs. In about three months I'll start craving summer designs again but for now I am really into my autumnal ideas. Galaxy is a look that works all year round but to switch things up for the darker nights I decided to go for a more autumnal palette with pinks and golds.

Thursday, 5 November 2015

This is one of my favourite designs for a while, I've lot my mojo a bit recently. I didn't 100% know where I was going with this but just hoped for the best. Amazingly it turned out way better than expected and I'm really pleased with it! The best thing is, it was super easy.

Wednesday, 4 November 2015

My autumn pallette is a bit chilly this year. I often tend to go for really warm autumn shades but clearly I'm feeling a bit frostier this year! I tried to select a mixture of work and non-work shades.

Tuesday, 3 November 2015

Today we have a special post, our third ever mani swap (you may have seen it on our Instagram last night!) We should really do these more often because it's so much fun. We get inspiration from other artists fairly regularly but it's brilliant seeing what others do with our designs in return. Lots of you tag us in Instagram posts where we have inspired you which is absolutely incredible, thank you!

Monday, 2 November 2015

As we entered November yesterday I suppose it's finally time to admit that winter has arrived, although it didn't feel much like it at the weekend. We hope you all enjoyed the lovely sunshine that bathed London, before it was taken over by mist that is! The heating is back on and the big jumpers are coming back out of hiding. Perfect time for some cosy knit nails!

Saturday, 31 October 2015

Happy Halloween you lovely lot! I would be super excited but I am working this Halloween. I still love seeing all the outfits on the tube on my way home though. I'll try to get some sneaky snaps for you.

Wednesday, 28 October 2015

With Halloween just around the corner we thought we'd inundate you with spooky themed nail designs! We're a tad late to the party but we never like to start the celebrations too early, no one wants to peak too soon. Instead this week is going to be chock-a-block with ghoulies and the like!

Tuesday, 27 October 2015

We've collaborated again with the lovely folks over at Beauty At Tesco to bring you another Halloween themed mani. Today it's a ghoulish grey gradient created with some Rimmel polishes: Moon*, Foggy London*, White Hot Love* and Little Bo Peep*. Like my cat claws this was created as I was getting back in the swing of things so not necessarily my best work but it's still pretty effective.

Beauty at Tesco will be sharing more pics on their social media pages so make sure to check them out! You can follow Beauty at Tesco on Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter, or visit their blog here.

We'd love to see your recreations so please tag us and @beautyattesco on Instagram if you try this out.

Monday, 26 October 2015

I LOVE Halloween. Every year I can't wait to see all the spooky designs on social media, it's so much fun! I have seen a few nail art wheels this year showcasing loads of great designs. We first did one back in 2013 and found it such a good way to experiment with our Halloween looks. I knew I wanted to do one this year as I wanted to try as many designs as possible but I also knew that I wanted to try them all in a slightly more fun or cartoonish style. So voila! Here are my pastel tinted looks...

Sunday, 25 October 2015

We know that we're a little early for Remembrance Sunday but we do have a valid reason. Have you ever wondered where to get those amazing poppies that you see on things like X Factor, you know, the ones with diamantes and such? Well, we contacted by the people behind them, Buckley London, and asked if we could create some poppy nail art for them. We do poppy nails every year so of course said yes and kindly Buckley sent us a couple of their gorgeous rings to use as inspiration!

Friday, 23 October 2015

The team at MICRO Nail sent us their Elegance device a long time ago, I have been pathetically slow at getting round to writing up this review - sorry! The MICRO Nails Elegance* is an electronic buffing tool which promises to smooth and shine you nails in seconds. I have super ridged nails so was interested to see if it would work for me.

Wednesday, 21 October 2015

The problem with working seasons in your post uni gap year is that you then have to watch your friends as they keep doing them and you get a boring office job. What's worse is when one of them decides to quit season life and get a 'real' job too, but the first week of the job includes sailing around Croatia! Seriously, how awesome is that! My job just sends me round the M25...

Monday, 19 October 2015

Gosh it feels like forever since I posted anything on here! Poor Jo has been holding the fort while I've been gallivanting on my holidays (sorry Jo!). I'm back just in time for my favourite holiday - Halloween. I love this time of year and couldn't wait to start doing some eery designs. This one comes courtesy of Beauty At Tesco who asked for some creepy cat claws as part of their #PrettyScaryLooks for Halloween!

Friday, 16 October 2015

I must admit that I hadn't heard of HJ Manicure before they contacted us about doing some swatches for them. Now I can confirm that I'm very glad I came across them. We try so many polishes that are a disappointment so we rarely get our hopes up. These three were a lovely surprise!